Sunday, December 29th, 2024 – Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Dear friends,
This weekend, as we thank God for the gift of Christ’s Word and Real Presence in the Eucharist, we also gather to give thanks to the Lord for the year 2024 which will soon conclude on Tuesday. And, as Blessed Solanus Casey would encourage us to do, we also thank God in advance for the goodness and kindness that will follow us in the year 2025.
Our faith challenges us to find God in all things, even in the challenges that we had this year in the same way that we find God in the gifts that we received. The Christian Catholic looks at the world and his own life with faith, hope and love, knowing that in the end, as I often say quoting saint Julian of Norwich, “All shall be well.”
The year 2025 is also a Jubilee Year! Every 25 years, the Church highlights her being Mother and dispenses graces and favors to his children from God, inviting us all the Christian faithful to be reconciled with God and with one another. If you would like to learn more about the Jubilee Year and the graces that are made available during this especial time, please ask a priest or visit www.iubilaeum2025.va/en.html.
Our pastor Fr. Tim Kizke, the priests, staff, and parish volunteers at the Family of Five parishes wish you a blessed, joy filled New Year 2025!
With love,
Fr. Carlos
Sunday, December 22nd, 2024 – Fourth Sunday of Advent
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
(Isaiah 9:1)
We pray that each of our parishioners, guests, benefactors, and friends will experience the power of Christ’s light and love this Christmas Season and share it generously throughout the new year.
We wish you all a Blessed and Merry Christmas!
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Fr. Tim Kitzke
Fr. Carlos Londoño
Fr. Joseph HeitFr. Brian Mason
And the entire pastoral staff of the Family of Five parishes.
Sunday, December 15th, 2024 – Third Sunday of Advent
“The Lord has removed the judgment against you…”
(The book of the Prophet Zephaniah, Ch. 3)
Dear Friends,
Such powerful, simple words this third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete (rejoice!) Sunday!
Having made it through a long political season of red state, blue state, purple politics, we have the blessing to be a really Purple Church, the color of Advent! Liturgically, purple is the color of repentance and reconciliation. We use it with vestment and church environment in Advent and Lent because, scratch the surface of any person, and there is always sin and division, but also for the believer, the call to forgiveness and new life! Purple always leads to the brightness of Christmas and Easter.
It is not cheap grace. There is work to do. As your pastor, I invite you to give new life a chance by cleaning out your spiritual house with celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Have a good confession, receive absolution from the crazy feelings of guilt, and celebrate that forgiveness which is the source of real joy in a painful world. Besides our regularly scheduled times for the Sacrament, we, your priests, will be available all morning on Saturday December 21 from 8am until 12 noon at Old St. Mary Church. Let’s all go to Confession, receive absolution, and, with a fresh forgiven outlook, celebrate a new way of being in the world! That would be the best gift to Jesus for His birthday! Happy Advent! “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,…” (Luke 3:1-2). The opening line of today’s Gospel may seem unimportant, but it is very intriguing. Many people have contemplated the reality of these two verses. It shows that Jesus comes in time and at this specific time. We have an amazing God who inserts himself into our time through his only son. Jesus came in time to be with us in our time. The magnitude of this idea is baffling to many but profound for the faithful. Advent is a time to remember that Jesus did come in time, and he will come again at the end of time. May this Advent fill you with the joy of contemplating the reality of Jesus coming in time to take on our human nature and love us so we can love others. It is Advent and the Church begins a new Liturgical year this weekend. In our lives, we have the calendar year, the school year and we also have a “Church year” which begins the First Sunday of Advent and ends with the Saturday after the Solemnity of Christ King of the Universe. The Liturgical year follows the main events in the life of the Lord Jesus and therefore it is also a pattern for the living out of the Christian life. We begin every year with the season of Advent, a time in which we learn how to long for God, for the celebration of his first coming in the flesh (Christmas) and for his second coming in glory in the end of times. When was the last time you longed for something or someone? When was the last time we hoped big? Advent is a time to stretch out our hearts and teach them to dream again for a better world and a better life for everyone. It is a time to renounce the lie that God will not or cannot satisfy our deepest desires, and announce the truth that God is for us and that he is coming to fulfill the longings of our hearts. This Advent, may we learn to hope big once again, trusting that the Lord will give us what in his kindness he has allowed us to hope for.
Sincerely, with love,
Sunday, December 8th, 2024 – Second Sunday of Advent
God Bless,
Fr. JosephSunday, December 1st, 2024 – First Sunday of Advent
With my love,
Fr. Carlos
